Junior Baylee Carr played limited defense during his prep days, but has turned into a mainstay on that side of the ball as a collegian.

UND Football #BrickByBrick: Day 20

Courtesy: UNDsports.com
Release: 08/20/2013

Related Links

Each day of fall camp, the staff at UNDSports.com will put together a daily report and feature a student-athlete in its #BrickByBrick countdown. Stay tuned to the official website, Instagram (UNDFootball) and Twitter (@UNDFootball) for all the up-to-date information leading up to the season opener vs. Valparaiso on Aug. 29.

Daily ReportThe North Dakota football team went through its final two-a-day of fall camp on Tuesday and held its first evening practice to cap the day. The morning session was held in full pads under the intense sunshine, while the evening practice was much cooler with a nice northern breeze blowing through the area.

A full moon (www.instagram.com/undfootball) was also present for the evening session that featured the team working out in shorts and shoulder pads.

All things considered, head coach Chris Mussman was once again pleased with the tempo and intensity he saw. He let the team know that Wednesday's practice would be the final one where a "thud" tempo would be used as he wants to scale back on some of the contact entering game week. Notes - Tuesday's two-a-day practice was the sixth of fall camp and accounted for practices 21 and 22 of August.- Tomorrow will be the last practice at Memorial Stadium before the team heads indoors to its home field at the Alerus Center on Thursday as preparations for the opener vs. Valparaiso continue.- Sophomore Chris Brown continued to rack up the interceptions with another one during 7-on-7 drills in the evening practice. There is no official tally, but if there was he would be the leader in the locker room. Linebacker Ben Peters is not too far behind - he corralled a deflected pass during the skelly drills.- A good chunk of the evening practice was used on individual drills and working on the small details that can make the difference in games. For instance, the defensive line worked on batting down balls at the line of scrimmage while engaged with an offensive lineman. That unit also worked on making tackles in the open field.- Assistant coach Kyle Myers will have three news starters along the front line for a unit he took over for during spring practices. Myers coached the outside linebackers a year ago.

What's on tap for WednesdayWith two-a-day practices in the past, the team will now turn its focus toward wrapping up the final handful of fall camp sessions on the agenda. That will begin Wednesday morning with another full-pad session at Memorial Stadium. Student-Athlete Spotlight: No. 40 Baylee CarrJunior Baylee Carr was not use to being the player supplying the hit. As a running back during his prep days, Carr was used to absorbing those hits or in a better case for him, avoiding them.

"I used to be the one that had to have some wiggle, but now it's the other way around," he said.

The UND coaching staff told him early in his collegiate career that his playing time would be found on the defensive side of the ball, so an evolution began and, now, Carr is one of the top defenders on the team and hungry to show improvement during his junior season.

"I like running down hill and being able to hit somebody," Carr said of his favorite thing about playing safety. "I was trying to avoid those hits in high school, but now I'm in the opposite shoes."

If last season was any indication, Carr is making positive strides towards mastering his new skill set. He led the team in tackles with 57 and earned seven starts. Five of those were in the closing stretch and included a career-high 10-tackle performance in the thrilling win over Montana.

With more than 20 practices under his belt this fall camp, Carr says he is feeling wiser and more like a leader this season.

"I feel a little older and I know the defense a lot better, so I can help out the younger guys a lot more and not worry just about myself," Carr said.

Carr is the lone North Dakotan on the starting defense and that is not lost on the Hazen native. He wants to make the small town he grew up in proud. "There are only 2,500 of us, so they do a lot of talking about UND football," he said. "You don't realize that when you're growing up in it, but going back, I hear a lot more of it."

Fall Camp Schedule

Date

Times (Practice #)

Sat., Aug. 3

9:15 a.m. (1)

Sun, Aug. 4

9:15 a.m. (2)

Mon., Aug. 5

9:15 a.m. (3)

Tues., Aug. 6

9:15 a.m. (4)

Wed., Aug. 7

9:15 a.m. (5)

Thur., Aug. 8

9:15 a.m. (6)

3:15 p.m. (7)

Fri., Aug. 9

9:15 a.m. (8)

Sat., Aug. 10

9:15 a.m. (9)

3:15 p.m. (10)

Mon., Aug. 12

9:15 a.m. (11)

Tues., Aug. 13

9:15 a.m. (12)

3:15 p.m. (13)

Wed., Aug. 14

9:15 a.m. (14)

Thurs. Aug. 15

9:15 a.m. (15)

3:15 p.m. (16)

Fri., Aug. 16

9:15 a.m. (17)

Sat., Aug. 17

9:15 a.m. (18)

3:15 p.m. (19)

Mon., Aug. 19

9:15 a.m. (20)

Tues., Aug. 20

9:15 a.m. (21)

3:15 p.m. (22)

Wed., Aug. 21

9:15 a.m. (23)

Thur., Aug. 22

9:15 a.m. (24)*

Fri., Aug. 23

9:15 a.m. (25)*

Sun., Aug. 25

3:15 p.m. (26)*

Mon., Aug. 26

2:30 p.m. (27)*

Tues., Aug. 27

3:25 p.m. (28)*

Wed., Aug. 28

4 p.m. (29)*

* All practices will be at Memorial Stadium except Aug. 24-28* (Alerus Center)

Season TicketsStarting at $75 per seat, season tickets for UND’s 2013 football season are now available. The seven-game home schedule is the best of the DI era and features matchups with four preseason top 10 teams: South Dakota State, Montana, Montana State, and Eastern Washington. Fans can save over 50 percent off single-game ticket prices by reserving your season tickets today. Place your orders by visiting UNDsports.com or calling 701-777-4582.